Masaryk University
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
MASARYK UNIVERSITY Faculty of Social Studies DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND EUROPEAN STUDIES Foreign policy of Kosovar presidents: cooperative or conflictual? bachelor’s thesis Name and surname: Jiří Němec UČO: 420584 Supervisor: Bc. Mgr. Vladimir Đorđević, Ph.D. Field of study: Political science – International relations Year of enrolment: 2015 Brno, 2018 “I hereby declare that this thesis is the result of my independent work, all the used sources are mentioned in the references and the content corresponds with all regulations of Masaryk University, Faculty of social studies and with available law.” Date: ……………… Signature: ……………………… 2 Acknowledgement I would like to express my deep gratitude to my supervisor Mr Vladimir Đorđević for his helpful remarks and comments, precise supervision and overall great communication and engagement during formation of this thesis. Also, I would like to thank Mr Michael D. Young for providing an access to his analysis software and useful advice. Furthermore, I would like to thank all people of Kosovo and Albania I have met who brought me to my study and work interest in the region of the Balkans, therefore, unintentionally, to the topic of this elaboration. Moreover I thank the people of the Albanian Challenge volunteer project in which I have participated in over last several years. Last but not least, I would like to thank all my friends and family members for their warming support. 3 Abstract This elaboration focuses on a research and an evaluation of operational codes of three presidents of the Republic of Kosovo. Its aim is to measure the degree of conflictual or cooperative behaviour in foreign policy executed by themselves. In the first half of the work I introduce the operational code as a methodological instrument, which is then framed by social constructivism and the role theory. In the second half, the evaluation and comparison of operational codes of respective presidents are discussed, then the overall conclusion following evaluation of the stated hypothesis is presented. Keywords: the Balkans, Kosovo, Serbia, security, foreign policy, foreign policy analysis, operational code, president, conflict, cooperation. Anotace Práce se zabývá výzkumem a evaluací operačních kódů tří kosovských prezidentů a má za cíl změřit míru konfliktnosti či kooperace v jimi vykonávané zahraniční politice. V první polovině práce je přistoupeno k představení operačního kódu jakožto metodologického nástroje, který je následně zarámován sociálním konstruktivismem a teorií rolí. V druhé části práce jsou hodnoceny a komparovány operační kódy jednotlivých prezidentů, z čehož je vyvozen závěr a evaluace stanovené hypotézy. Klíčová slova: Balkán, Kosovo, Srbsko, bezpečnost, zahraniční politika, analýza zahraniční politiky, operační kód, prezident, konflikt, spolupráce. 4 Content Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 6 1. Background and structure of the work ........................................................................... 7 1.1 Historical context ......................................................................................................... 7 1.2 Political context ........................................................................................................... 8 1.3 Structure of the work ................................................................................................... 9 1.4 Used sources and literature .......................................................................................... 9 2. Methodological framework ............................................................................................ 11 2.1 Research aim ................................................................................................................... 11 2.2 Research questions ......................................................................................................... 12 2.3 Limitations of the research ............................................................................................. 12 2.4 Specification of methods used ........................................................................................ 13 2.4.1 Specification of the calculation of operational code indexes ................................... 15 3. Theoretical background ................................................................................................. 19 3.1 Social constructivism ...................................................................................................... 19 3.2 The role theory ................................................................................................................ 20 3.3 Formulation and constitution of hypothesis ................................................................... 21 4. Individual presidential operational codes ..................................................................... 22 4.1 Operational code and its interpretation – Fatmir Sejdiu ................................................. 22 4.2 Operational code and its interpretation – Atifete Jahjaga ............................................... 24 4.3 Operational code and its interpretation – Hashim Thaçi ................................................ 25 5. Operational code comparison and its connotations ..................................................... 28 5.1 The nature of politics ...................................................................................................... 28 5.2 Realisation of political values ......................................................................................... 29 5.3 Strategic approach to political goals ............................................................................... 30 5.4 Efficiency in pursuing political objectives ..................................................................... 31 5.5 Summarising index ......................................................................................................... 31 5.6 Connotations of the comparison ..................................................................................... 32 6. Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 34 7. Resources ......................................................................................................................... 36 7.1 Primary sources .............................................................................................................. 36 7.2 Secondary sources .......................................................................................................... 41 5 Introduction Independence of the Republic of Kosovo was declared on 17th February 2008 on the second attempt of the former Yugoslav “autonomous province of Kosovo and Metohija” and following the overall breakdown of socialist Yugoslavia. Declaration was preceded by numerous issues from Kosovo conflict of the late nineties through mass unrest during the beginning of the millennium up to the very declaration. As I perceive an evolution of the state of Kosovo to be important for understanding of the context and outcomes of this elaboration, let me reproduce its history briefly, specifically, from the end of The Second World War until the second declaration of independence in 2008. Aim of this work is to provide an analysis and a description of a position of three presidents of the Republic of Kosovo in a conflict – cooperation relation, as well as to provide a description of how they self-perceive this position and their particular role in context of foreign policy execution. To reach the aim of the elaboration I will use the instruments and theory of social constructivism and the role theory for theoretical framing; then operational code and Verbs in Context System method for the analysis. By these methods, I will gain and compare data and evaluate aforementioned positions and self-perceiving of the presidents. 6 1. Background and structure of the work 1.1 Historical context Following both the end of the war against Nazi Germany and the constitution of communist Yugoslavia, the territory of Kosovo was given a status of an autonomous region and then, in 1963, the status of an autonomous province, however, with limited privileges. Adoption of the new Yugoslav constitution in 1974 extended manoeuvring space for the province, allowing, for example, partial self-governance. One of the significant milestones were the student protests from the beginning of 1981 which were the consequence of poverty of the people, but also called for Kosovo to become an independent republic within the Yugoslav federation. Importantly, tensions between two main communities at that time in Kosovo were caused not only by economic reasons or ethnic diversity itself but also by a lack of interest of authorities in Belgrade in the issues of the Serbs in this territory. The change became with Slobodan Milosević coming into power and with adopting a new constitution in 1990 that reduced rights of all provinces including Kosovo and Metohija. Worsening of the situation was catalyzed by firing hundreds of ethnic Albanian workers, withdrawing Albanian education curriculums and by the ban of Albanian-held media. In 1992 Ibrahim Rugova was elected a president of self- declared independent Kosovo, calling for non-violent resistance against the Serbs. However, this independence was not recognized by any country in the world,